016 - Leading the Network Strategy and Operations at a Tier 1 Carrier with Carolyn Phiddian

If the network is ultimately the product for any network operator, then OSS/BSS are the great connectors, connecting customers to that product. Both for initial activation, but also ongoing utilisation of network resources. Whilst everyone has a different perspective on the relevance / importance of OSS/BSS, there tend to be even broader divergences of opinion across networks, operations and executive teams.

Our guest on this episode, Carolyn Phiddian, has formed a career around network strategy and is now a gun-for-hire broadband industry strategist. Networks are her main specialty, but she's also held executive roles, including leading a team of nearly 500 people in network operations for a Tier 1 carrier. Carolyn has held roles with iconic telco organisations such as Telstra, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Alcatel-Lucent and more recently with nbn.  Having experienced roles across network, operations and the C-suite within these organisations gives Carolyn a somewhat unique perspective on OSS/BSS.

Carolyn walks us through her career highlights to date but also shares some really important insights and experiences along the way. Some of these include:- that when Architects / Engineers are detailed, rather than big-picture people, then that detail can have the tendency to become hard-wired into their OSS/BSS, which has benefits and ramifications; that one of the biggest challenges for executives and sponsors of OSS/BSS projects is the mismatch between what people want and what they get, often through the stakeholders not knowing what they want or being able to adequately articulate it; and that diversity of thought combined with inquisitiveness are powerful traits for OSS/BSS implementation and operations teams.

For any further questions you may have, Carolyn can be found at: www.linkedin.com/in/carolynphiddian.

Disclaimer. All the views and opinions shared in this podcast, and others in the series, are solely those of our guest and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of the organisations discussed.